As we bob in the sea over the tropical reef tonight after ascending from a dive in Vonavona Lagoon, I can’t help but think we are on one of the last frontiers — a rare slice of the planet that is quickly diminishing. It is difficult being a coral reef scientist in 2012. The system we are studying is dwindling — and we feel there is an urgent need to understand the ecosystem while it still has a pulse. Coral reefs are on target to be one of the first major ecosystems to be pushed to an unproductive state. But here, at Shark Point in the Solomon Islands, they are still healthy and functioning.

David GruberA Solomon Islander paddling a canoe with his dog.

This reef is unmarked and protected by the indigenous Solomon Islanders, but there are other factors that contribute to its salubrious state. Few people inhabit these parts and those who do live in less-developed and low-impact states. They travel by wooden canoe, have scattered access to electricity, and do not have the technological means to scoop up thousands of fish at once. The locals are visibly underwhelmed by displays of our advanced scientific equipment (including an underwater version of the highest-resolution RED EPIC camera that James Cameron is using to film Avatar 2 and an underwater night-vision camera that we are using to visualize infrared colors not seen by the unaided eye).

“Why do you need all these things?” inquired Joseph Taksa, our guide, as he dropped us on the reef at night with pinpoint precision without the aid of the Global Positioning System or any navigation equipment.

Corals and development do not coexist peacefully. I cannot think of a single place on the planet where there are numerous humans living around tropical coral reefs, and where the reefs have not suffered a precipitous decline. There are many reasons for this: coral reefs are stuck in place, they grow relatively slowly; they have a narrow temperature and nutrient range; and they are incredibly interdependent with a suite of other creatures, such as the single-celled dinoflagellate that often lives inside their skin and provides them with photosynthesized nourishment.

Ken CorbenFluorescent corals from the Western Province, Solomon Islands.

Paradoxically, corals are likely to outlive humans. Coral species have been around for hundreds of millions of years and have survived and rebounded from extinction events like the one that extinguished the dinosaurs. An expedition member, Dan Tchernov, has co-authored an elegant study showing that some corals can even return to soft-bodied, anemone-like forms when the oceans become too acidic, and re-calcify when normal pH levels return. Dr. Tchernov’s findings support an evolutionary theory called the “naked coral hypothesis,” explaining why corals are absent from the geologic record for millions of years and several species rebound when conditions improve.

But the naked coral hypothesis should not warm human hearts: “Once the modern coral system and its biodiversity are gone, it will be gone for a long, long time — millions of years,” Dr. Tchernov said. “We will miss out on many potential economical ventures including drugs, foods, energy sources.”

Ken CorbenA red biofluorescent scorpionfish at Shark Point.

On Day 13 of the expedition, the group has collected dinoflagellates from corals in the warm shallows as well as from the deep reef. These little animals, barely visible to the human eye, will be taken to New York for genetic and protein analysis and some will be kept in deep cryogenic storage at the American Museum of Natural History’s Ambrose Monell Collection for Molecular and Microbial Research. We have returned to this same spot tonight to search for novel biofluorecent proteins and study how fish, corals and other animals are using this glow on the reef.

Yet, after tonight’s dive, as I pass our state-of-the-art equipment into our boat (one of the few motor boats in the area), I note the paradox that modern technology itself has accelerated the coral reefs’ decline. If fossil fuel-burning innovations and advanced fishing technologies were not here, many of these reef species would still be thriving globally. Some scientists have already written off coral reef ecosystems for dead, road kill on humankind’s technological superhighway. But I see a glimmer of promise — here, in this oasis at Shark Point, as well as in other deeper coral reefs we’ve studied worldwide. Sustaining coral reefs as humans increase in population and consumption levels will require a sea change in our approach to reducing our ecological footprint. It will surely require scientific and sociopolitical innovation. I hold out on hope that we won’t have to wait until the year 2,002,012 for reefs to return to the state that we’ve seen tonight.